How hot was July/How hot has summer been overall

July 2016 Orlando was one for the record books. Its never good when a place that already has brutally hot and humid weather even in a normal July has their hottest July ever but thats what we have dealt with the past thirty one days. Just how hot was it? Lets dive into the numbers

first of all, for the first time in the history of Orlando weather keeping (122 years!!!!) all 31 days in July got to at least 90 degrees. That is incredibly remarkable. In fact no July since 1988 before this one had more than 27 ninety degree days in July. July 31st marked the 40th consecutive 90 degree day in Orlando, which is still a couple weeks shy of the all time record of 55 consecutive ninety degree days, but with no end in sight if I were a betting man I would be that we will get there.

July also saw 10 days make it to at least 95 degrees, the average over the past 122 years is 3.

It hasnt just been the middle of the days that were super hot, the morning were much hotter than normal as well. The temperature fell below 75 degrees just two days in July, compared to the average of 11.

Luckily one area where this July was much milder than last July has been the average humidity. The average dew point this July was 73, which is right in line with the average. Last years average dew point in July was a downright unbearable 75 (two degrees may seem marginal but when we are talking dew points it makes a huge difference.) Needless to say last years July was one of the most humid ever so it was good to at least go back to normal in that respect.

Two things to look at to compare this summer to very recent summers. Here is the total number of 90 degree days for the year through July 31st.

2010: 69
2011: 74
2012: 59
2013: 36
2014: 60
2015: 67
2016: 73
Average: 63

Of course Floridians know actual temperature doesn't really tell you much in the summer. Much more important is the heat index which gives you a better idea of the heat/humidity combo. A 95 degree day with a 65 dew point feels much more comfortable and has a lower heat index than an 88 degree day with a 75 dew point.  Here is the amount of days through July 31st where the heat index made it to at least 100 degrees

2010: 31
2011: 17
2012: 7
2013: 2
2014: 15
2015: 35
2016: 36

One of the main components that  has played a part in ensuring such a hot July was the rain, or complete lack thereof. There was rainfall in an astoundingly low 14 of 31 days in July (the average is 22.) Without rain to cool things off it allows temps to soar in the middle of the day and makes for a much slower cool down after sunset and therefore hotter nights and mornings as well. In terms of average temperature and dew point August is essentially the exact same as July. The differences between the two months is August has shorter daylight hours and a little bit less rain (19 days on average.) On average the hottest day of the year in Orlando is August 3rd, which means starting on August 4th the average temperature starts going down, albeit very slowly for about 1.5 months, but at least cooler days are getting closer!

Top 100 Songs of All Time #80-66

80. I Don't Want to be -Gavin Degraw
79. Nine in the Afternoon-Panic! at the Disco
78. Only One-Yellowcard
77. Boston-Augustana
76. Moneytalks-AC/DC
75. 1985-Bowling for Soup
74. Burnout-Green Day
73. Thunder-Boys Like Girls
72. Addicted-Simple Plan
71. 50 Ways to Say Goodbye-Train
70. Vanilla Twilight-Owl City
69. Shake it-Metrostation
68. Pulling Teeth
67. Welcome to the Black Parade-My Chemical Romance
66. Jesus of Suburbia-Green Day

Top 100 Songs of All time #90-81

90. Free Ride-Edgar Winter

89. Rooftops-Lostprophets

88. Somewhere Only We Know-Keane

87. Vindicated-Dashboard Confessional

86. Bohemian Rhapsody-Queen

85. 2,000 Light Years Away-Green Day: Green Day finally makes its first of eleven appearances on this list, by far the most of any band. I've been listening to Green Day for twelve years, but it wasnt until less than two years ago where I discovered how great old Green Day music is, like the stuff before Dookie. This is one of three super old Green Day songs on this list.

84. Iris-Goo Goo Dolls

83. Check Yes, Juliet -We the Kings

82. Learn to Fly-Foo Fighters

81. Fat Bottomed Girls-Queen

Top 100 Songs of all time # 95-91

Time to continue the countdown of my 100 favorite songs of all time

95. Champagne Supernova-Oasis: 90s light rock band Oasis makes it first of two appearances on the top 100.

94. Home-Chris Daughtry: Even though I enjoy many Chris Daughtry songs, this is the only song that made the cut for the top 100, showing just how tough it was to crack this list.

93. Welcome to My Life-Simple Plan: Simple Plan already makes its second appearance on this list, with one more to go.

92. Daylight-Maroon 5: Maroon 5 also makes their second appearance on this list with one to go.

91. Kryptonite: Another band that has quite a few songs I enjoy, but yet only fields this one song on this list.

Top 100 Songs of All time #100-96

When I first decided I was going to try to take on the task of finding my top 100 favorite songs of all time I knew it would be an incredibly daunting task. After all I have over 2,000 songs on my ipod, so figuring out the 100 that would make the best of the best would not be easy. I started by narrowing down songs that I would consider and came back with 292, narrowed it down even more and was left with 117, and pushing out 17 more songs was brutally hard but I finally whittled it down to 100. The results are a great mix of songs from the 60s all the way to today, some punk rock, some classic rock, some pop, some ballads, and some songs I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit I enjoy but put them in anyway. Over the next several weeks the top 100 will be slowly unveiled, starting with the first five today. After much labor, here it is, my top 100 favorite songs of all time.

100. I'd Do Anything-Simple Plan: The first of three songs from Simple Plan on the top 100, and a fun way to start the list. This is was the first song on the first album from Simple Plan and served as a perfect introduction for them as a band, three minutes of fun pop punk rock.

99. Trouble-American Authors: The American Authors come in at number ninety nine with their one and only song on this list.

98. This is How We Roll-Florida Georgia Line: The only song from Florida Georgia Line and the only country song on this list, I had to include at least one. As far as country goes, this one does a great job infusing some pop to appeal to a broader audience, and is a great summer song.

97. I Saw Her Standing There-The Beatles: What many people consider to be the greatest band of all time will make three appearances on this list with this being the first.

96. Sugar-Maroon 5:A fun little song, Maroon 5 also makes its first of three appearances on this list.

February 2016 Weather Recap

February was a slightly below average month, overall I think the weather for February was pretty perfect, there was a ton of sunny, cloudless days with highs in the low to mid 70s, which is right in my wheelhouse.
February did get off to a hot start though, with four straight 80 degree days. The final 25 days only gave us two though, for a total of six. Right in line with the average.

The Coldest temperature recorded was 39 degrees, on February 11th
The Hottest temperature recorded was 82 degrees, 3 times, February 1st-3rd.

Here are the final stats compared to previous years

February Average High: 73.0/53.4

2011: 74.9/54.9     
2012: 76.4/58.0  
2013: 75.3/55.0    
2014: 74.8/55.8    
2015: 69.0/50.4    
2016: 72.2/52.7

Ranking Fall Out Boy's 13 top twenty hits

With thirteen songs reaching the top twenty over the past twelve years, Fall Out Boy has surpassed the likes of Blink 182, All American Rejects, Bowling for Soup, and Boys Like Girls, as the second most popular and enduring punk rock band ever, right behind Green Day. A case could be made they have even surpassed Green Day because while Green Day emerges with a mega album every 4-6 years, Fall Out Boy has been a consistent mainstay over the past twelve years. When Fall Out Boy takes the stage tonight, they will be the biggest band to ever play at Universal, the only people that come close are American Idol alums Kelly Clarkson and Chris Daughtry. Since I love Fall Out Boy, I thought it would be fun to rank their 13 songs that have hit the top twenty songs in America, here it is:

13. Centuries (2014): Centuries probably does not deserve to be last on this list, but the NBA turned this into one of the most overplayed songs of all time, making it much more annoying than it actually is. This song was the anthem of the 2015 NBA playoffs for ESPN, and therefore was played no less than 200 times per game, practically every single commercial break. Eventually you wanted to cover your ears whenever it came on.

12. Beat It (2008): When you remake one of the most popular songs from one of the biggest musical legends of all time, there are always going to be people who say it sucks. The fact is it cant be better than the original, so its a huge risk to take on such a task. Fall Out Boy did a really good job adding their own flavor to a classic without disrespecting it. It was about as good as a remake can be, which is still only good enough for twelfth on this list.

11. Young Volcanoes (2013): Probably fall out boys mushiest songs as its much more mellow and low key than most of their songs. It works for a bit, but is not one of their songs you can listen to endlessly without getting sick of.

10. My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light 'em Up) (2013): Another song used by the NBA as their  playoff anthem. I find the verses to be very powerful and the song has a great rock vibe, but the constant repeating of "Light em up" in the chorus makes me think of this as more of a fun song to play at sporting events rather than a fun sing along song for the radio.

9. Irresistible (2016): Fall Out Boys newest hit is a lot of fun, and practically the opposite of the previous song in that its strength lies in its awesome chorus while the verses are its weak point. With this song only having been out about a month its hard to gauge if this one will the enduring popularity some of their bigger hits have had.

8. This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race (2007): Now we are getting to the really good stuff. With this song, Fall Out Boy established itself as a very unique band. With a purposefully uneven pace, purposefully overly wordy chorus, and purposefully long song title, Fall Out Boy proved they could step outside the box of "normal" bands and still be successful. They also continued a tradition of "punk" bands having at least one song that disses mainstream celebrities like Paris Hilton and Brittany Spears.

7. Uma Thurman (2015): This song would be lower on this list it if wasn't for the insanely catchy inclusion of the Munsters theme song. Another song where the chorus is very catchy but the verses are kind of weak.

6. I Don't Care (2008): A straight up hard rock  break-up song. The Chorus and verses both are on point and its relentless in terms of how powerful the music and lyrics are. This was the song that after some of their earlier hits proved that Fall Out Boy may be around for the long run with their versatility.

5. Dance, Dance (2005): After their first big hit Fall Out Boy needed to churn out another one to prove they weren't going to be a fluke one hit wonder. They hit it big with Dance, Dance, an insanely fast paced song you can't help but jam out too. With two massive hits in short order Fall Out Boy put themselves on the map as Superstars.

4. The Phoenix (2013): Right up there with "I Dont Care" in terms of adrenaline pumping hard rock. This song also has a huge nostalgia factor for me as it was the song used as the opening dance for Bill and Ted in 2013, and to this day remains by far the best opening dance of the six years of Bill and Ted I've seen.

3. Thanks for the Memories (2007): If you were to poll the population to rank these songs, this is probably the song that would get the most number one votes, but I like to be a little different. Still, I cannnot deny this songs greatness. In terms of empowering break up songs, this is right at the top.

2. Alone Together (2014): Again, if you were to poll the population, this probably wouldn't make many peoples top five, but again I like to be a little different. This song may be a little mushy and soft for Fall Out Boy, but the lyrics are perfect and the powerful way they break into the chorus gets me every time, a true powerhouse song.

1. Sugar, We're Going Down (2005): Fall Out Boys first mega hit is still their best. Story time: Its August 2005 and I have just moved to Wisconsin. Every day during the remainder of summer break I bike down to the Holtz's house in the afternoon and we all watch "TRL" together on MTV, which counts down the most popular music videos of the day, and every day Sugar We're Going Down is number one. This song is the total package, fun, great chorus, great verses, doesn't take itself too seriously, but isn't just a joke either. Fall Out Boy broke onto the scene and hasn't left all these years later.